Regular Lead-Acid or AGM Battery?

[BroncMan]

Hi All,
I have a 2021 Bronco Sport and my partner has a 2022.
I just noticed that mine has a AGM battery and heir's has a regular Lead Acid one.
Is this normal?
I have to mention though that last year the dealership replaced mine for free since it was regularly low on charge.
(due to short drives, I guess)
Are there differences in batteries from year to year or between models ... or did the dealership just give me an upgrade?
(mine is a 21 Outer Banks - heir's a 22 Big Bend)

also wan to mention that I've got a trickle charger/maintainer and had to use different settings for the two vehicles.
Thanks

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[RSH]

Hi All,
I have a 2021 Bronco Sport and my partner has a 2022.
I just noticed that mine has a AGM battery and heir's has a regular Lead Acid one.
Is this normal?
I have to mention though that last year the dealership replaced mine for free since it was regularly low on charge.
(due to short drives, I guess)
Are there differences in batteries from year to year or between models ... or did the dealership just give me an upgrade?
(mine is a 21 Outer Banks - heir's a 22 Big Bend)

also wan to mention that I've got a trickle charger/maintainer and had to use different settings for the two vehicles.
Thanks

My 2021 Badlands had a FOMOCO regular lead acid battery from the factory.
Battery started acting up at 19 months, had it replaced under warranty, dealer replaced it with a Motorcraft AGM. So far so good.

 

[BroncMan]

Thanks, RSH
so, that seems to answer my question ... FOMOCO (regular lead-acid) is the factory standard, but when replaced they'll use AGM.
It was mainly about the settings on a NOCO trickle charger/maintenancer - which is another topic for low charge in cold temperatures and short commutes.

Cheers

 

[RSH]

Thanks, RSH
so, that seems to answer my question ... FOMOCO (regular lead-acid) is the factory standard, but when replaced they'll use AGM.
It was mainly about the settings on a NOCO trickle charger/maintenancer - which is another topic for low charge in cold temperatures and short commutes.

Cheers

For trickle charging 1-3 amps is a good range to use.

Be sure to connect the charger correctly or the Ford BMS won't recognize the battery's state of charge.

You do not want to connect to the negative battery terminal directly, attach the charger negative clamp to the ground lug that's on top of the right-side wheelwell to the right of the battery.

 

[BroncMan]

Thanks for the tip - even though the NOCO instructions clearly say it's ok to connect to negative post...??
Do you have a picture of that ground lug?
Or could you please describe it better. Is it a protruding ..thing ... just for that??
Just to make clear: right side ...??? ... seen from the front of the hood (driver side) ( the side closer to the battery?) ...
or seen from the inside (passenger side)?
Thanks

 

[Bluebaru]

Thanks for the tip - even though the NOCO instructions clearly say it's ok to connect to negative post...??
Do you have a picture of that ground lug?
Or could you please describe it better. Is it a protruding ..thing ... just for that??
Just to make clear: right side ...??? ... seen from the front of the hood (driver side) ( the side closer to the battery?) ...
or seen from the inside (passenger side)?
Thanks

Here is an updated version of how to properly charge your Battery on a Ford with the BMS system. mine, on the charger

 

[BroncMan]

Thanks, Bluebaru!
I completely understand your point of NOT connecting directly to the negative post.
However, the video is a different vehicle and everything is set up differently. So-nothing about that lug RSH mentioned. Connecting to ANY other solid part of the frame is difficult since everything is painted.
What I can see from your video is connecting just slightly off to the side of the negative post / after a sensor. Again - I'm not sur if everything on the bronco is laid out like this since I'm not looking at it right now. Please excuse my ignorance but I'm not a mechanic.
Thanks

 

[BroncMan]

PS: So I just come back after checking again.
I'm pretty sure now what you were referring to is the cable going from the negative post (after what looks like a sensor?) to a bolt / lug in the frame for a solid ground connection.
That's where to connect my negative charger clamp - if I'm not mistaken.
Apologies for wasting your time.
However, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks

 

[RSH]

Here is a photo of the the BMS sensor and the ground lug from my Badlands

 

[bjbena]

Thanks, RSH
so, that seems to answer my question ... FOMOCO (regular lead-acid) is the factory standard, but when replaced they'll use AGM.
It was mainly about the settings on a NOCO trickle charger/maintenancer - which is another topic for low charge in cold temperatures and short commutes.

Cheers

For 21, I believe the lead acid one was the standard. Though, for Ford Escapes, the AGM was standard.

 

[seoden88]

Any vehicle with start stop 99% of the time uses AGM. They hold voltage better and voltage doesnt fluctuate as much when under load

 

[BroncMan]

Thanks Everybody!

 

[BSBB4Les]

I had a battery issue this past weekend where my 2022 BSBB was completely dead (deep sleep mode, per fordpass). I had it towed to the local Ford dealership where they spent about 4hrs checking battery condition and modules for connectivity issues. After all that, they said battery good and no issues with modules. After watching the video I looked at our battery and it is not an agm type. My BS has copilot 360+ and tow pkg. Of course, start/stop. With that being said, why doesn't mine have an agm type battery? Took possession January 2022. The guy in the video said most if not all vehicles with start/stop function would have the agm type battery. This is frustrating as it seems that if you don't drive it for a minimum amount of time the battery will gradually die, but not be really dead. Like a zombie! A zombie battery! I had no warning on my touch screen prior to the deep sleep event so it caught me completely off guard. I realized after that I could have just had AAA jump start (he did) and drove it around for awhile and accomplished the same thing as the dealer service did. My decision now seems to be what to buy to prevent what happened from happening again. Trickle charger or portable jump starter.

 

[BroncMan]

Here is what I know - according to other input:
Mine had a regular battery and because of low voltage (Radio / startstop issues / not enough power) I brought it to the dealer and they replaced it with a AGM battery. They probably knew that it wasn't a faulty battery but simply short distances and colder weather. But they don't care ... they get paid by Ford for their work and materials ... and make money on it. And I got a better battery!
But both types should be equally good... its more the short distances / not charging enough, etc.
That' all I know.
Cheers
PS: I also got a trickle charger and hook it up sometimes in the winter for maintenance.

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